Guardians of the GALAXY
1. Opening Image: Sitting alone outside a hospital room, a young Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) listens to a cassette tape labeled “Awesome Mix Vol. 1.” He is lost in the music as his grandfather comes out to get him.
2. Theme Stated: Peter is led into the room of his dying mother to say goodbye to her. It is here that we have a brief “Save the Cat” moment; Peter’s mother asks about his black eye, and he tells her that some kids “squished a frog and killed it for no reason.” This shows that deep down, Peter Quill is a protector, even though he might not realize it until later.
His mother hands him a final gift while reassuring him that she will be okay as she goes to a better place. Peter, she says, reminds her of his father, an angel from the stars. She tells Peter that his father will come to get him one day soon and admonishes him to hold her hand as she passes.
Peter is afraid to and holds back, refusing to take her hand. As the life leaves his mother, he becomes despondent, crying out and rushing out of the room, taking only his backpack with him.
Having courage to trust others will be what Peter needs to learn in his quest. Only by doing so will he be able to conquer the greatest threat the galaxy knows.
3. Set-Up: As Peter hurries outside the hospital, a brilliant beam of light shines on him, beaming him into the craft above as he is taken from this planet.
Twenty-six years later, Peter Quill is on the planet Morag searching for a valuable orb. In aRaiders of the Lost Ark-esque moment, Quill obtains the orb, which he hopes to sell to an interested buyer. He is confronted by Korath, a servant of Ronan the Accuser. With others desiring to obtain this object, Quill knows it must be worth quite a lot, and he escapes Korath and returns to his ship, the Milano.
On the ship, Peter communicates with his partner/mentor, Yondu, about the orb. However, instead of sharing it with Yondu, he betrays him to collect the money all for himself.
The planet Xandar has signed a peace treaty with the Kree race, but there are still those who do not agree with the treaty. Ronan the Accuser is a Kree zealot who will use whatever violence he can to demonstrate Kree power and dominance. When Korath reports that Quill has the orb, Ronan turns to the adoped daughters of Thanos to retrieve it. He asks Nebula to obtain it, but before she can go, Gamora (Zoe Saldana) volunteers.
4. Catalyst: Quill tries to sell the orb to his buyer on Xandar, but when he reveals that one of Ronan’s servants was also after it, the buyer wants no part in the deal, pushing Quill out. Gamora meets him outside, then steals the orb from him.
5. Debate: A fight breaks out between Quill and Gamora as each takes possession of the orb in turn. Meanwhile, Rocket (voice: Bradley Cooper), a genetically-engineered raccoon, and Groot (voice: Vin Diesel), a tree creature and Rocket’s companion, learn about the bounty on Quill. As Quill fights Gamora, Rocket and Groot join in the fight, too. They continually best each other until the Nova police force arrests them all.
After the Nova arrest, each of them is sent to the Kyln, a space prison. In the prison, Quill and company are out of their element (except for Rocket, who has escaped from prison multiple times). Whereas Peter Quill was once so confident in his abilities that he called himself Star-Lord, in the Kyln he is nothing, threatened by the other prisoners. When he catches one of the Kyln personnel listening to his music, he threatens him but is quickly put in his place. After a shower, he sees Rocket’s back, covered with scars and remnants of experiments.
6. Break into Two: Peter Quill is officially a prisoner in the Kyln, with little hope of escaping.
7. B Story: While at first hating Gamora, Quill starts to develop feelings for her. This is part of the B Story, but the larger B Story will focus on the group as a whole as they come together, learning to trust one another and to show the courage that is necessary to do what is right.
8. Fun & Games: In the prison, Quill notices that Gamora is the focus of many of the prisoners’ attention, but not in a good way. Several of them take her away to kill her, knowing that she is Thanos’s adopted daughter. As many races in the galaxy have lost loved ones due to Thanos’s evil deeds, the prisoners plan to exact their vengeance on her. Quill follows them, as does Rocket, but the plot to kill Gamora is interrupted by another prisoner, Drax (Dave Bautista). Known as Drax the Destroyer, he reveals that he is the only one who has the right to kill Gamora; Ronan killed his wife and daughter, and he wants to return the favor. Gamora reveals that she was planning on betraying Ronan, and that is why she stole the orb, to sell it to another buyer. Quill convinces Drax to let her go, and if they escape, they can split the reward and Drax can have his revenge on Ronan himself.
Meanwhile, Ronan reveals to Thanos that Gamora has betrayed them. Thanos is dismayed, as he considered Gamora his favorite daughter, a fact that upsets Nebula. He orders Ronan to retrieve the orb.
Under Rocket’s leadership, the five enact a plan to escape from the Kyln. Taking control of a guard tower, Rocket flies it out of the prison to where they can board the Milano. Peter Quill briefly goes back in to get his Walkman from the guard and escapes with the others.
9. Midpoint: Having escaped, the five sit aboard Quill’s ship. Their next destination will be the mining colony at Knowhere, the remnants of a severed Celestial head. For now, they are free, they have the orb, and they are about to collect their reward.
